Search Results for: lisa portelli

Never heard of raspy rapper/smooth talker Le Larron before, but kooky Lisa Portelli (pictured), she’s a regular here. Lisa and Le Larron sang two duets for an EP by the latter. ‘Je t’aime is the best of the two, you can check that out below. Les yeux verts is cool too. Listen on Soundcloud HERELe Larron, Lisa Portelli – Je t’aime

The weird, almost frightening yet compelling video for Lisa Portelli‘s Dans l’air has ‘David Lynch’ written all over it. The music reminds me of Twin Peaks and Blue Velvet as well. Her second album Le régal (‘A pleasure’) contains more of these atmospherical country-noir tracks, like Les chiens dorment or L’échelle. On these, 24-year old Lisa sound like an auto-tuned Vanessa Paradis – tuned to ‘odd’ that is. On other songs she rocks out, like in the very strong title-track, or the blues-y Animal K. Not everything works, probably because her voice is, at times, less compelling than her videos. See live videos here, here and here.Lisa Portelli – Le régal

Guestpost by David!
‘Once again going through the internet equivalent of the used music racks, I came across an artist I missed. Lena Luce is an old-fashioned style chanteuse, with short skirt, heels, and a smile in her voice. Charming. Her first album, “Metropolitaine”, came out last year, and can be found on Spotify.Here’s a nice interview from Le Courrier Picard (they liked Lena enough to write about her twice), where they describe the album as organized as a walk through Paris, a walk from old to new, and a bit about growing up. Her training in voice rings clear from the first notes, carrying her tunes with an easy sway, as in Lamarck – Dans le Peau.
Reminds me a bit of a Filles Sourires favorite, Austine, but her voice is perhaps closer to Lisa Portelli’s. Good company on a cold winter’s day.’ Listen to Lena cover Coeur de Pirate (and more) on Soundcloud.

Last time one of Thomas Bohnet’s French pop-compilations was reviewed on this blog, the atmosphere in the comments turned a little sour. Alas. So let’s what happens now. First off, one has to applaud Bohnet’s tenacity. It’s his 6th survey of new(-ish) French pop in a time where compilations aren’t top sellers any more and where the non-French excitement about French pop has worn down. His French parties are still running, from 2000 on. A big hand, if you please!

Second, though Bohnet certainly isn’t deaf for new sounds, you know you’ll find reggae-fied and balkanised chansons on his compilations. Because they’re good to dance too, because it’s Thomas’ taste. Though I love (roots-)reggae and ska, I find songs who inject Jamaican influences hardly exciting. Maybe I’ve been listening to too much Spanish rock mestizo in the late 90s and balkan beats in the early 2000s. That means I’m aloof to the songs by Romain Latelin, Acorps de Rue and Nôze. The latter, also present on one of my Filles Fragiles-comps (with a far better song), lean to electro-swing, a genre that’s very popular in France but to me it is an overused mould, tending to banality.

But wait! No! This isn’t another grilling of a Le Tour compilation! Where T. and a disagree on the use of Jamaican and Balkan rhythms, we share a passion for strong females, who sometimes sound like they’re little girls. Lisa Portelli‘s on Le Tour #6, Ariane Brunet, Maryse Letarte, Vanessa Chassaigne, Elsa Kopf – girls who appeared on this very blog and pretty words were used to describe them. And their songs. Also on #6 is my good friend Pierre Faa, with a very, very good song. But German funkateers The Mighty Mocambos do take the biscuit. Fronted by French singer Caroline Lacaze, ‘Physique’ is in the immortal words of George Clinton, The BOMB!

When you visit this blog, you know what you’re gonna get: soft sighing girls, the occassional guy and lots and lots of Gainsbourg-covers. When you buy Le Tour #6, you’d expect danceable French tunes, some girls and new artists that only Thomas knows about – I consider myself ‘in the know’ about French music, but Thomas always manages to surprise me by digging up talented debutants, like Erwan Pinard and Raspail, for instance. So there. Le Tour #6 doesn’t disappoint! Oh, and another thing Thomas, where the HELL do you find the gorgeous girls who pose for your cd-covers?